Producer Charles Roven has revealed that Ben Affleck was always the first on the list to play Batman and Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, largely due to his maturity and stature.

"He was the first guy we went to. That's who we wanted," Roven told The Hollywood Reporter . "We knew that we wanted a very mature Batman, because we wanted to juxtapose him with this very young Superman. So we wanted a guy who was tougher, rugged, who had signs of life, who had lived a hard life, and we wanted the guy to have chops, for sure. So when we went down that list, there just weren't a tremendous number of guys who could carry that."

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Affleck’s physique was also an important factor, as the filmmakers wanted an actor whose stature would play off Superman actor Henry Cavill’s height.

"We also wanted a guy with big stature. Ben is 6' 4". Henry[Cavill] is 6'1". We wanted Batman to tower over Superman. Not hugely, not like a basketball player. Superman needed to 'look up' to Batman. We wanted that dynamic, and Ben could do that, easily."

Affleck said in previous interviews that Warner Bros. warned him about the fan outcry over the casting before accepting the part of Bruce Wayne. He explained that the controversy didn't deter him, and acknowledged that everyone has an opinion.

Roven said it wasn’t hard to reach out to Affleck, who had "literally just won the Oscar for Argo.” Before accepting the role, the actor “made sure that he understood what Zack was looking for" and wanted "to know exactly how Zack planned on treating this Bruce Wayne that was going to make him completely different even though he was still Bruce Wayne, still Batman."

Bruce Wayne and Batman will be "completely different," according to Roven, adding that "He's much more of a social animal in the Bruce Wayne incarnation, but he's also an extremely rough guy in the Batman incarnation — very, very, very rough."

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In response to questions around other superheroes in the flick, Roven confirmed that Wonder Women will be a demi-god.

“Wonder Woman is in it, we know that. She has powers, she’s a goddess, right? She’s a half - she is a demigod. Her father was Zeus,” he said. It was revealed last December that Fast & Furious actress Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman. Warner Bros. released an image of Gadot as Wonder Woman during San Diego Comic Con in July.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theatres on March 24, 2016.

Jenna Pitcher is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter.